This invention relates to systems for assisting left-handed individuals and more particularly, to assist them for permitting for an individual who has little or no use of his right hand to be able to start a vehicle.
As will be appreciated, vehicles are provided with an ignition system including an ignition key which is inserted into an ignition switch slot in order to turn on the vehicle and to permit the driving thereof.
Invariably, all of the ignition key slots are located to the right-hand side of the steering wheel, with the key being inserted into the ignition switch slot which is either on the dash to the right of the wheel or on the steering column to the right of the wheel.
While these systems work adequately for right-handed individuals, for left-handed individuals, either the individual has to utilize his right hand, not his dominant hand, in order to start the vehicle; or, in the case of disabled individuals, the left-handed individual must reach around or under the steering wheel and position his or her hand in a backwards position in order to be able to insert the key into the key slot which lies to the right-hand side of the wheel.
For those who have right hand impairments, it is only with difficulty that the vehicle can be started. Not only is this because of the difficulty in reaching around with one""s left hand to a position to the right of the wheel, often times the ignition system includes mechanical unlocking of the steering column, which requires significant pressure on the key to be able to both initiate the ignition and unlock the steering column.
For those who are not able to use their right hands, the keys will sometimes snap off in the key slot due to the awkward angle at which the individual must turn the key. Thus, not only is it inconvenient for these people to have the key slot to the right of the wheel, it also can result in the total inability of the individual to turn on the vehicle if the key snaps off in the key slot due to the awkward angle at which the individual is trying to turn on the vehicle.
Thus, it is important for left-handed individuals or those having an impaired right hand to have some way of starting the vehicle without undue or unnecessary contortions.
In order to accommodate left-handed individuals or those having an impaired right hand, in the subject invention, a key slot for the ignition key is provided to the left of the wheel of the vehicle to permit easy access with the left hand, thus to eliminate the problems of having to reach around the wheel and insert the key with one""s left hand into a right-sided key slot.
For ignition switches that are mounted to the dash of the vehicle, then in one embodiment an ignition switch which duplicates the action of the ignition switch to the right-hand side of the vehicle is provided on the dash at the left-hand side of the steering wheel. Its function is identical to that of the ignition switch to the right-hand side and thereby permits a left-handed individual or one having an impaired right hand to be able to start the vehicle with ease.
In a second embodiment, a pair of key slots is provided in diametrically opposed positions on the steering column such that a key can be inserted either in the right-hand slot or the left-hand slot in order to start the vehicle and unlock the steering wheel such as desired.
Alternatively, and in a second embodiment, a rotatable collar is positioned on the steering column with the collar having an ignition switch which receives an ignition key in order to turn on the vehicle. This collar is rotatable 180 degrees about the steering column, such that for left-handed individuals or those having impaired right hands the ignition key can be inserted from the left by the left hand.
In all of the above embodiments, it is clear that with vehicles supplied with left-hand key slots for ignition keys, the vehicle can be turned on and the driver accommodated, thus to alleviate the awkwardness and clumsiness associated with prior right-hand key ignition switches.
In summary, a system is provided for aiding left-handed individuals or individuals whose right hands are immobilized to be able to start a vehicle by turning an ignition key in which the key slot is movable or placeable to the left of the steering wheel at the driver""s option to permit starting of the vehicle utilizing an individual""s left hand only. In one embodiment a duplicate key slot is positioned to the left of the steering wheel on the dash of the car or, in a further embodiment, for key slots mounted to the steering column, the column is provided with a duplicate key slot to the left-hand side of the column. In another embodiment, a rotatable sleeve or collar is made part of the steering column, which when rotated rotates the key slot from an initial right-hand position to a left-hand position, thus to enable the starting of the vehicle only utilizing one""s left hand.